Applejack's Grudge
by TheOmniscientWriter1587
Summary: Hey guys! This is my first MLP fanfic, this follows the journey of Jane and the Apple clan (I love using that term). Both the Apples and Jane had tragic pasts, will AJ be able to overcome her hatred? DISCLAIMER: I do not own MLP, that belongs to Hasbro, Discovery Family yada yyada yada. Be gentle and no flaming pwease!


"What the? Where am I?" Jane asked herself.

At first she wasn't sure where she was. Jane had fallen asleep that night perfectly fine but woke up in a world that looked familiar to her but she wasn't sure how. But she knew one thing, she was hungry she had to eat something like right now. She looked around and saw a grove of Apple trees in the distance so, she figured she'd grab a one really quick. She had been walking around the orchard when she had finally stumbled upon an old rundown treehouse. It seemed like her best option at the moment so she simply climbed up, picked an apple, and began eating. Not really caring about all the noise she made since she thought no one lived there.

Applejack was doing her normal evening walk around the orchard when she heard something shift. Given the fact that she lived at the farm ever since she was a filly she'd pretty much memorized the orchard, from the certain clearings she liked to go to, to specific trees based off of branches, all the way down to certain sounds she'd hear at given times. She has heard branches shift before but not as much as they had just now. So she figured she'd check it out. When she tried to remember where she heard it she realized that the sound came from where her old tree house was. She began wondering who the hay would be up so late. Then a certain bunch of fillies crossed her mind. She hadn't seen Applebloom since she had went up to bed earlier, and although Applebloom was a good filly she was known for sneaking out into the orchard late at night. Especially when her friends Scootaloo and SweetieBelle were over, which just so happened to be the case. She slightly smiled at the thought of her little sister and her friends telling ghost stories and stuff like that in the treehouse she grew up with. Since she knew the orchard like the back of her hoof she just set off towards the treehouse.

"Those fillies, always up to somethin." She said to herself.

Jane was just lounging around in the treehouse after eating an apple or two when she heard foot steps coming toward her location. She peaked out off one of the windows and saw the outline of a small horse come toward her.

"Applebloom! You up there?" A voice called.

The voice sounded familiar but again she couldn't put a finger on how it was familiar to her. She heard the footsteps come closer and she realized that who ever just called Applebloom was coming up to try and find who they were looking for. Jane started to panic. She wasn't sure how to get down without being seen. She was about to start for a window but a gasp interrupted her. She turned to meet the noise. There infront of her, stood something she never thought she'd see. It all came back to her now. She now knew why the place was familiar. She was in a place known as Equestria and was standing in front of Applejack one of the mane six. Some of her guy friends were bronies, at least that's what they called themselves. They were always talking about it and showing her things like music, pictures and even memes about the show and fandom. Since then she started watching the show but didn't get very far. All she knew were that the mane six wielded the elements of harmony which were used to defeat Nightmare Moon. Jane wasn't sure what to do, Applejack was looking at her with hostility and she knew that she meant business.

They just stared at each other, neither of them doing or saying anything. Many things were running through Applejack's mind. How did another one get here? What did it do to her sister and her friends? Were they safe?

"Where are they?" Applejack asked quietly.

"What are you talking about? Where are who?" Jane asked.

"Mah sister and her friends, where are they?!" She demanded her voice quick to almost yelling.

"I...I don't know. I don't know what your talking about. Nobody was here." Jane responded.

AJ was about to open her mouth to speak again but was interrupted by more hoof steps. AJ shot Jane a look that said. "Be quiet or your dead." Jane made no objections. She trotted over to the nearest window still keeping an eye on Jane and looked out of it to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders making their way around the orchard.

"Oh, thank Celestia!" Applejack said in relief.

But her feeling of relief was slightly doused at the fact that they wandering the orchard in the middle of the night. AJ saw her sister look toward the treehouse window.

"Applejack? What are you doin up there?" Applebloom asked confused.

AJ panicked, her eyes were darting from Jane to Applebloom repeatedly until she finally thought of something.

"Uh...nothin Applebloom! Ah'm just...uh...uh..takin care of a pest!" She stuttered quickly.

"A pest?"

"Yup, a very dangerous varmint that I don't want any of y'all near. So you head on back to the barn and I'll be there soon." She replied

"Aww, but Applejack."

"Now!"

The three fillies shrugged and left back for the barn. AJ turned to Jane. She hadn't moved or spoken since she told her not to. Jane crossed her arms.

"So, I'm a pest huh?" Jane asked slightly offended.

Applejack scowled at the human standing before her. "No, you ain't a pest, your somethin much worse, somethin much more dangerous. Ah ain't about to let you do what you did again." AJ replied.

Jane gained an expression of confusion. "Do what again?" She asked.

"That ain't important, what is important is that your comin with me." She replied.

Just then AJ lunged at Jane, biting onto her leg. At first Jane wasn't sure what was going on, everything was happening so fast, but when she felt that pain of the bite it began to come together and she started to panic.

"Ow! Hey let go!" Jane began thrashing and kicking trying to make her let go but AJ just bit down harder. Still Jane fought.

"Quit squirmin! It'll make it less painful for both of us." Applejack said through clenched teeth.

She continued dragging her through the orchard careful not to bring her so close to the barn that anyone could hear. Eventually Jane had given up, all of the fight was gone in her after about a minute when she realized how tired she was. Eventually the pair were in the cellar and AJ was tying one of Jane's ankles to a pole in a far back corner.

"Question AJ, being the element of honesty and all. How long do you think it will take until someone finds out about me? I say someone will find out about me before the two week mark." Jane said. She was scared. She wasn't gonna lie to herself, but she didn't want to look weak in front of a four and a half foot tall horse wearing a cowboy hat. She and her even looked around the same age, maybe AJ being a little bit older. So based on Jane's estimations, AJ was about high school age, Jane herself was fourteen so it isn't that big of a difference,

AJ had just finished the final knot when she shot a glare at Jane "Number one, that ain't any of your business. Number two, nopony is gonna ever find out about ya. Number three, you have no right to refer to me as AJ or Applejack. I'm to be referred to as Ms. Jack by you. Ya got that?" She asked.

"Yeah, I got it." Jane replied.

"Good." AJ began walking towards the steps

"H-hey! Where are you goin?"

"To bed!" AJ said as she shut the cellar door behind her.

The room was dark and the corner Jane was in was quite musty. She wondered how she even got into this mess, she wondered if she'd ever get out, but most of all she wondered what Applejack meant when she said that she wouldn't let her do it again. She examined the bite mark on her leg. It was bleeding but not so profusely that she would die from it. She wasn't bitten by something like a tiger after all. She tore off part of her shirt and used that to dress her wound. She figured a ruined shirt would be better than a ruined body. She then looked over and examined the bind around her ankle. She couldn't understand how someone could tie such good knots without hands or fingers. She eventually gave up on trying to untie the knots, she got as comfortable as she could and tried to get some sleep.

AJ didn't understand how the human knew so much about her. How did she know she was the element of honesty? But she would have to wonder about that later. Right now she has to tend to her injuries and get some much needed rest.

The next morning AJ started normally. She started working when her friend Fluttershy was headed her way. She put a smile on her face and walked over.

"Why howdy Fluttershy. What brings you here?"

"Hi Applejack, I ran out of food for the animals so I was wondering if you can supply some for me." Fluttershy replied.

"Well don't ya fret I got the perfect basket of apple with your name on it." She said with a smile, she went to get the basket and brought it back.

"Oh these are perfect! Thank you!" Fluttershy said in excitement.

"No problem, I'm always happy to help out!"

Fluttershy left but then she turned to her left to see her brother and a friend by the name of Red heading toward the cellar. She raced in front of them blocking their path. They gave her puzzled looks.

"What are ya guys doin?" She asked trying to hide her nervousness

"Oh, I was wondering if I could get some cider, your brother was just going to bring me down for a taste test."

"Oh, well there's no need to go down there, I'll go get y'all some samples."

Red nods. "Okay then."

Applejack went down and brought up a case full of different bottles full of cider and the pair began trying the samples.

Eventually the two left and AJ breathed a sigh of relief. She began wondering how she was gonna deal with the human but got back to work all the while

Jane woke up and her body was aching, she stretched out best she could and just sat against the wall. She knew that she was gonna be in this position for a while. She was hungry but she didn't expect any food to come anytime soon. She looked at her leg, some blood had soaked through the make shift wraps but she didn't care. It's not like she has been through much worse. Well, she hasn't been in a situation where she was locked in a cellar on a farm in a completely new world but she had experienced something similar.

A week has past, Jane hasn't had anything to eat or drink. All she could do was try and get a few drips of cider off of the nearest faucet, it probably wasn't the best thing for her though, even though she's never had alcohol she has a feeling that there was some in what she's been using to stay alive. She was miserable, tired, hungry, hurting. She literally hurt all over, the only thing that didn't hurt was her voice, it didn't hurt to speak but she never really tried, she was so bored, there was absolutely nothing to keep her busy, given the circumstances, she felt as if she had to do something, something she hasn't done since her parents died. She began singing.

It was early in the morning, so early that stars were still in the sky. Big Macintosh was heading to the cellar for his "secret binge" as he called it. But it wasn't really a binge, the most he'd ever have at one time was 5 and a half pints. It wasn't because he couldn't handle anymore, he was just fairly certain that his family would have questions if they saw him doing something like bucking a tree with the apples long gone from it and walking or more accurately, stumbling around the orchard while working. As he made it to the cellar and opened the door he was greeted by the usual aroma of apples along with something new...singing. The voice was one unlike any that he had ever heard, it was definitely female, it was young but, also had a power. It was saying: "isn't something missing? Isn't someone missing me?" Along with other lyrics, seemingly entranced by the voice, he walked down the stairs and followed it to the very back corner of the room. Careful not to make any noise in fear that the music would stop, he peeked around a barrel and what he saw shocked him, it was a human. A human with dark hair and light skin, was in his cellar singing possibly one of the most beautiful songs he'd ever heard. She looked pretty young, maybe fourteen, AJ was sixteen so that cleared that up. Her back was turned away from him but he could tell that she had her eyes closed she was so invested. It was funny though, Big Mac usually enjoyed happy, cheery pieces that he'd sing with the family. This one, it was sad, lonely, yet beautiful at the same time, he just sat there quietly letting her carry on.

Any and all other noises were drowned out as Jane continued singing, it had been such a long time, it felt so good. She now remembered why she used to do it so much. When she had finished she turned to see a red stallion coming out from behind the keg nearest her and looked at her. She was shocked and her cheeks turned as red as his coat, she looked away and down.

"I-I-I-...did I?...uh...I'm sorry if I did I just..."

She then felt something on her shoulder, she looked to see he was beside her now, his hoof on her shoulder, looking down at her with a gentle smile on his face. The red in her cheeks had softened to a pink.

Big Mac started looking Jane over, he saw how thin she was, how tired she looked, the makeshift bandage around a seeming wound. He put a hoof on it gingerly but Jane pulled back with a wince. He looked at her and saw that she wasn't doing so out of fear, she was in pain, she was hungry. He looked to see the rope that secured Jane's leg. It was tied with knots he didn't even recognize let alone know how to untie, he could try cutting the rope off, but dismissed the idea when he came to find that it would hurt her in the process, plus the rope was pretty thick. He stood up and began to leave the cellar, he turned his head to look at Jane who didn't try to stop him.

Jane had no idea what just happened. She just sang for the first time in six months, then all the sudden yet another pony found out about her. Another pony found out, oh the thought of that. She couldn't wait to rub it into Applejack's face next time she came to see her, if she ever came to see her.

Big Mac didn't really know why he was about to do this, This is a human we're talking about here, why would he be helping a human the way he's about to now? But he knew why. All of you might be saying or thinking something like "oh my god, he heard her sing and now he wants to help her, how superficial is that?" But it wasn't just her singing that made him want to help her. It was just part of his nature in a way, he was usually the one to tend to his family members if they got sick or injured, even if they didn't ask for or wanted help. He couldn't help it really, it was just a part of him. Now you might be asking something like "but this isn't his family, this is a total stranger, not just a stranger, a human." Well, Big Mac has just always been a caring stallion, it didn't matter who or what was hurt, he'd be compelled to help them. He went around the farm looking for supplies, making sure not to wake anyone up in the process.

About half an hour later Big Mac came back with buckets and a saddlebag his back, the saddlebag was full of apples which made Jane's mouth water, one of the buckets was full of actual water, and the other bucket seemingly full of medical supplies. He walked over to her with the supplies and began unwrapping her ragged clothing piece to reveal the bite, it didn't seem infected for some miraculous reason. He picked up a bottle and poured the liquid that filled it onto her wound, it was an antiseptic. That would help clean the wound and prevent infection. It wasn't a joyous or pleasurable process however. In fact Jane was fighting to hold back a scream. When he finished with that Big Mac grabbed some actual gauze and began wrapping her wound with it.

"A warning about that liquid stuff might've been helpful." Jane says trying not to sound disrespectful.

Mac just continued on, before long he had finished and carried the apples and water over to her.

"Is that stuff...for me?" She asks pointing to the satchel and bucket.

Mac nods. "Eeyup."

Hesitantly at first, she grabs an apple and bites into it, she never thought she'd be more happy to have a simple piece of fruit. After eating that apple all the way to the core, she took several large gulps of water. Then she repeated and kept going until there were apple cores everywhere and the bucket was lying empty on the ground. Jane felt better than she's felt in a long time. Then a question surfaced in her mind, she looked at the strange yet somehow familiar stallion, then she remembered, she still wanted to clarify though.

"You're Big Macintosh right? Ms. Jack's older brother?" She asks with slight caution.

Big Macintosh looks at her in slight confusion.

"Well, her real name is Applejack but she said that I had to call her Ms. Jack. She doesn't like me very much. She's the one who brought me down here actually...I've been down here about a week now, no food or water beside what you just gave me. Which I thank you very much for by the way."

Mac's eyes grow in surprise. How could his sister do something like this? He knows that she hated humans but had no idea she could be so cruel.

Jane was confused, if this was Ms. Jack's brother, why is he helping her? He hates her too doesn't he? But that doesn't make sense, if he did why would he be helping her the way he did? There is a silence until oddly enough, Big Macintosh speaks.

"She did this to ya? How long did ya say you were down here again?" He asks in genuine concern. This took Jane back even more.

"W-why would you care? Your a pony and I'm a human, you hate me don't you?"

He shakes his head. "Nope."

"But..."

"Ah forgave and forgot what yer kind did to us...but AJ, ah swear to Celestia, she's got the stubbornness of a mule and memory of an elephant. Not exactly the best combination." He said in a somewhat disappointed tone.

"What we did?" Jane asked confused

Big Mac nodded and was about to open his mouth to speak, but a muffled rooster crow could be heard instead. He hastily began to clean up and wrapped his hoof in a little bit of gauze. Jane looked at him confused, he caught the look and stopped to explain really quick.

"AJ should be up right about now, if she saw all of this she would've known that Ah found ya, by the looks of things she wanted to keep ya hidden and didn't want anypony to find ya. If she sees me with all this and me not really usin' any of it she'll suspect somethin', ah'm tryin make it look like ah was the one who needed it."

He explains to her, she nods in understanding. He began to make his way out of the cellar when Jane stopped him.

"Mr. Macintosh!" She said slightly louder than intended, he turned to face her.

"Umm, thank you...I'm not sure if I would've lasted much longer if you didn't find me when and help me the way you did."

He smiles at her and nods. "Eeyup."

He turned around again made his way up the cellar stairs and Jane heard the trap door close. Feeling content with her morning, she laid down and quietly hummed tunes to herself with her eyes closed.

As Big Mac made his way up the stairs he quietly concluded that he was going to confront AJ about this. He closed the cellar door and turned around to see his littlest sister AppleBloom.

"Mornin Big Mac!" She said with a smile and hug, he hugs her back. AppleBloom looked to see his hoof was wrapped as if it were hurt.

"What happened? Did ya hurt yourself?" She asked concerned, Big Mac nodded.

"Eeyup."

"Well, just take it easy, ah don't want ya getting hurt anymore than ya have to. Ah know yer usually the one takin care o' us but that don't mean we can't worry about ya."

Applejack interjected as she trotted over. Big Mac nodded again. AJ examined him further and found that his satchel was full of apple cores. She looked at it slightly confused.

"Did ya hurt yer hoof collectin apple cores or somethin?" Applejack asks.

"Eeyup."

AJ shrugged. "Well we'ed best get started, a lot of chores today." She chimed, Applebloom and Big Mac nodded. Big Macintosh was never a convincing actor, but then again he didn't really have to be since he'd never have many lines in a play. Metaphorically speaking.

The apple siblings began doing their usual chores around the farm, before they knew it, it was time for a break for the older siblings. AJ fanned herself with her hat.

"Phew! Where do ya reckon we hunker down for a few minutes big brother?" Applejack asked.

Big Mac saw this as the perfect opportunity, he began trotting and AJ followed, soon enough the cellar came into view. Applejack could feel her heart beat quicken as Big Mac opened the cellar door.

"Um Big Mac, ya sure ya wanna go down there?" She asks, failing to hide the nervousness in her voice.

Mac gives her a stern look and begins trotting down the steps. "Eeyup."

Jane could hear the sound of hoof steps coming toward her, when she saw Big Mac and AJ come into view she couldn't hold back a smile.

"Told you, not even two weeks." Jane said mockingly, the grin still plastered on her face.

Applejack's expression turned from nervousness to anger and somewhat disbelief, she trotted up to Jane, spun around and bucked her in the stomach with her hind legs, Jane got the wind knocked out of her and began coughing, clutching at her stomach.

"So...worth...it..." Jane choked out.

Applejack reared up for another one but then remembered that her brother was there. She looked at him and saw his expression contorted into several emotions: fear, surprise, anger. Big Mac was angry, he hardly ever, if ever got mad at anyone, yet AJ could almost see the flames starting in his eyes. She lowered her hind legs still looking at him. She sighed.

"Relax Mac, ah barely tapped her. No matter how badly Ah wanted to completely unload in her. That's what the trees are for."

Big Mac merely looked at her, many negative emotions clearly visible in his expression.

"Ah take it ya want me to explain mahself..." She said quietly.

"Eeyup!" Big Mac said, basically doing his version of shouting at her.

Eventually Applejack explained everything to her brother and Jane had recovered. Big Mac looked at the rope around Jane's leg expectantly and Applejack followed his gaze.

"Ya know Ah ain't gonna do it." She told him, he glared at her.

"Ah won't, ah haven't decided what imma do with her yet and besides, where would she go even if ah did?"

Big Mac got to thinking, Applejack was right, it would be very hard to sneak Jane around ponyville and keep her away from other ponies, her best option would've been to stay down here either way. He went over to Jane's leg and bent down, AJ put a hoof infront of him stopping him.

"Try to untie her an ah'll make sure ya actually need medical attention." She said in a low growl.

Big Mac looked at Jane, who gave him a look of understanding.

"It's okay Mr. Macintosh, I'm fine." She said softly, AJ shot a glare at her.

"Did Ah say you could talk to us?" She asked her, a snarl still in her voice.

Jane quickly looked at Applejack, then shook her head, not daring to say another word.

"Well ahm done here, just, don't you dare tell anypony else about this Mac. Or Ah swear to Celestia ah'll turn into a ragin' bull with no reins."

Applejack turned and made her way up the cellar stairs, Mac just stood there, many things running through his mind. He looked at Jane again, who just smiled sadly. As much as he didn't like to see any sort of creature in this state, he would never fight his sister. He just wouldn't be able to bring himself to hurt her, even if it meant the suffering of another. Both Jane and Mac heard the trap door close.

"I'm really glad she decided not to break my ribs, I know she very well could have if she wanted to." Jane said with a slight chuckle. She winced from the pain.

"Ahm sorry, if ah had known she woulda done that ah would've kept a better eye out." Big Mac said apologetically. Jane shakes her head.

"You shouldn't be sorry for me, we had only just met and by the sound of things you have no reason to be concerned about what happens to me." She looked down after she finished her sentence.

He walks over to her. "Well ah am concerned. You have no reason to be here in this condition. Ah just can't bring mahself to hurt mah sister. But, ah can keep helpin ya till we sort this out."

"Sir, you don't have to do that..."

Big Mac was just quiet, he nuzzled Jane as if to say "it's okay, I don't mind." Jane petted his muzzle in thanks.

"Thank you, thank you so much. I'm Jane by the way."

"Huh, interestin'...ah like it." He smiles at her.

"Thank you sir."

"Big Mac please." Jane looks at him questioningly.

"Call me Big Mac. Ah prefer goin by that name." He told her with a smile. She nodded.

"Well alrighty then Big Mac." She returned his smile.

"Big Macintosh get yer plot up here now!" Applejack called. He sighed and turned to leave. Jane not stopping him as he made his way up the steps.

After a few hours the apple siblings had finished their day's work, after dinner Big Macintosh made his way back to the cellar with some left overs. He somehow managed to sneak it by AJ and bring it to Jane who didn't seem to move since he left.

"Big Mac you shouldn't have done that, I know just by looking at you that you could eat everything on that plate no problem. Besides you fed me earlier today, I'm fine." Jane said as he put the plate down infront of her. Just then her stomach growled. Big Mac smiled somewhat triumphantly and pushed the plate closer to her.

Jane sighed "Oh okay, thank you." Jane said as she started eating.

Her first bite was slow but as soon as it entered her mouth her face lit up and she began scarfing it down as quickly as possible without looking like a complete slob. Within five minutes the plate was polished clean.

"Hehe, I guess I was a little hungry..." Jane said with a sheepish laugh. Big Mac just smiled and shook his head.

"I'd imagine it's about time for you to head to bed huh? Being that you need to work the farm and all." Jane asked in a somewhat sad tone. Big Mac nods.

"Eeyup."

He then goes and huddles around Jane, keeping her warm in the cool humidity of the underground cellar. Jane didn't realize how cold she actually was until she'd experienced the warmth. A couple questions crossed her mind.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you helping me? What did I do to earn such kindness from someone I barely even know? I mean, I know I've said this a couple times before but...your sister clearly hates me, so why don't you?"

"Some things don't need to be earned, ponies just do it from their hearts. Ah believe that everyone deserves a second chance, but mah sister...she ain't so forgivin."

Jane nodded in understanding. And began singing again, this time it was a lullaby so she sang softly.

"Ya have a mighty pretty voice." Big Mac inquired, Jane blushed slightly.

"Thanks, it's been a while, the only songs I've sang in six months were this one and the one you heard at the beginning of the day. It feels good."

Big Mac nodded and crossed his forehooves under his chin, he laid his head down and closed his eyes. He could feel Jane snuggle into him as she got comfortable herself.

It was late, AJ didn't know where her brother went, and then she thought about it. She made her way toward the cellar.

"What're you doin!?" AJ basically yelled in a whisper, Mac had always been a light sleeper so he woke up.

"Ah'm keepin her warm." He whispered sternly.

"Why? Ya know she's just gonna die anyways right? We've been lookin all over for ya!"

Big Mac just glared at her. Applejack sighed.

"Just...don't get too attached alright? Ah'd hate to have to hurt you when Ah hurt her..."

AJ turned around heading up the cellar steps. She closed the trap door behind her. Big Mac then looked at Jane, she was dirty, smelly, tired, weak and yet she still wore a smile on her face, she looked so peaceful as she snuggled against Big Mac's warm body. He couldn't understand it, how could someone in this state be happy? Even after being helped the way he helped her? Big Mac pondered that question as he reluctantly went back to sleep.

The next morning Jane woke up. Mac was already awake just lookin around. "Morning Big Mac. You sleep well?" She said with a smile on her face as she stretched. He nodded.

"Eeyup."

"Well you'd best get to work, don't want AJ to get any angrier do we?"

Big Mac gets up and walks out of the cellar but comes back a few minutes later another bucket of water and saddle bag full of apples on his back.

"Thanks." Jane says as Mac puts the items infront of her, Mac turns to leave.

"See ya later!" Jane called, Mac smiled to himself.

"Eeyup!"

As promised, Big Mac did come back right around dinner time with more food, this time he convinced his family that he was heading to bed early that night so they wouldn't be so suspicious.

"How long are you gonna keep this up? How long do you think it will be till the rest of your family finds out?" Jane asks.

Mac just shrugged then sat beside her. Jane decided to strike up conversation.

"So...do you consider yourself a country boy?" She asked. Big Mac looked at her confused.

"Boy is a basically a human colt, girl is a human filly, man is a human stallion and woman is a mare. So do you consider yourself a country boy?" She explains.

Mac chuckles a little and nods. "Eeyup."

Over the next hour or two they just talked, although Big Mac didn't talk often around other ponies he could actually be quite articulate if he chose to be. They talked about different terms used by each of their societies, how they were similar how they were different. Basically giving each other vocabulary lessons, when talking to each other they decided to use terms like "no one" or "anyone" since they are pretty vague in a sense. When they both got tired they went to bed the same way they had before. It went on like that for several weeks, everyday Big Mac would come down and visit Jane giving her the things she needed to live and they'ed talk, they even taught each other certain games they both liked to play, like twenty questions, Jane found that Big Mac was particularly good at that game, and other games of that nature. Mac stopped sleeping in the cellar and just brought a sleep sack down for Jane eventually, AJ told him to do it so he didn't disobey, but that didn't stop him from bringing her food and giving her someone to talk to at the end of the day. But, Macintosh did learn to balance everything, he never spent too much time on one particular thing. That was something that Jane particularly admired about him.

AJ had never tried to stop them. She knew about the activity and knew it would be pointless. She knew that he had grown attached to her, so maybe she wouldn't kill her. Maybe she'd just keep her, another pet doesn't seem so bad, especially since Big Mac will be the one taking care of it. Besides, he didn't let it interfere with his chores or family time so, what's the trouble?

This morning Jane was dusting herself off when she spotted the bruises, she thought they would've gone away by now, but then again, they did tend to last a long time. Before Jane came to equestria she wasn't living the best life, tartarus she didn't even live a decent life. She was examining her bruises when she heard something, she didn't even notice Big Mac making his way down the cellar stairs. His expression was one of worry. Jane hastily tried to pull her rags of clothes over the bruises to try and hide them.

"What's wrong?" He asked advancing toward her.

"I-it's nothing...I'm fine."

Mac looked at her. "Jane, let me see." He said with a gently firm tone.

Jane sighed and allowed Big Mac to look her over again. He found that she had many bruises on her arms and legs, he had no idea how he could've missed them when he first met her.

"How did ya get these? They look old."

"That's cause they are..."

Big Mac looked at Jane inquisitively. What was she talking about? He didn't cause those on accident did he? No, he was very diligent in making sure she didn't get hurt, when he was around anyways. Nothing could've fallen on her. So, what happened?

"I can trust you right?" Jane asks cautiously. Big Mac nods.

"Eeyup."

Big Mac sat down beside Jane and she began to explain everything.

AJ was passing by the cellar when she heard talking, she was curious what Big Mac and the human talked about when he disappeared, so she decided to take a listen, she did everything quietly since she was sure that they wouldn't continue their conversation if they knew she was there. She got just within the distance to hear things clearly when she heard the human.

"My parents died about six months ago, the day they died was what I thought would be worst day of my life, my sister hates my parents and I. When they died...she said she'd finally be able to do whatever she wanted and not get persecuted for it. She wasn't even sorry when she saw them laying on their deathbeds. In fact, I could tell she was holding back a smile... I was always "the perfect little sister" maybe she got jealous but she had no reasons to be, mom and dad gave us both equal attention. She did get in trouble more often though, a lot more often, she was always the "bad girl"

Big Mac could clearly see that Jane was fighting to hold back tears.

"Not even a week afterward she hooked up with Luke...the part that she loved the most about him was the fact that he hated me as much as she did...the only reason they kept me around was to do chores. That's all I ever did when they had taken charge, when I wasn't doing chores I was either being beaten or just locked in my room. The only thing I'd eat for the day is a crappy six piece nugget meal with a side of small fries and a glass of water, if I tried to get anything else they'ed hit me...hard. Sometimes they'd hit me just for the heck of it. My sister was more of the emotional abuse while Luke was physical. Then one night...Luke came in my room and...well lets just say I'm no longer clean. They gave me a laptop and enrolled me in an online school so it isn't all bad. But, it was still utter torture nonetheless."

Jane's tears were falling now, Mac was shocked. So was AJ, they were listening when their eyes had grown wide and their mouths dropped open, they couldn't believe that she had gone through all of that and...come out alive.

"That's not even the worst part..."

Jane actually chuckled slightly, failing to lift anyone's mood.

"H-he blamed me and she believed him, he said that I did it and she believed him! They made me go without food for a week with one bathroom break a day that week too. My life was a living hell..."

There was a long moment of silence until Big Mac finally gained the courage to speak. "Why didn't ya run away? Why didn't ya call someone?"

"I made a promise." She said quietly. Big Mac was confused beyond belief.

"When they were on their deathbeds, mom and dad made us both promise to do whatever it took to make each other happy. It was their last dying wish, I couldn't disobey. So I stayed with them that whole time, doing everything I could hoping that one day they'ed return my actions but...obviously they never did...I tried so hard I tell you, I did everything I could but...I'm nothing! That's what they keep telling me, they keep telling me that I'm worthless, ugly, never gonna amount to anything! I...I'm actually starting to believe them..."

Big Mac was amazed, not just at the treatment she'd been given, but because of her determination of trying to keep a promise she made to her deceased parents. He huddled around Jane and wrapped his legs around her hugging her, which she returned. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed, not letting go. She just sobbed. He didn't mind, in fact...he could sense that he had some tears of his own.

Applejack had tears in her eyes, how could she never have asked? How could she never have deduced the fact that there was more to the human...no...more to Jane that meets the eye. Now was not the best time to burst in, as she sneaked out of the cellar she resolved that she would come back later to have a one on one chat with her.

Big Mac felt so terrible for Jane, he knew what it was like to loose parents but...not go through those kinds of hardships. Then a certain song came to mind, maybe hearing it would make Jane feel better. Well only one way to find out.

Mac and Jane were still hugging, they just sat there for a good five minutes in silence until he broke it. But not in a way Jane had expected, he began singing. If she didn't know any better she could've sworn that it was one her favorite songs by a country artist named Rodney Atkins. But she knew they didn't have him here. Maybe someone else in this world just wrote a song exactly like it. The song was called If Your Going through Hell, Jane knew why Mac was singing it and even joined in on the chorus.

"You ain't any of the things they say you are...if anything your the opposite. Don't listen to them." Mac said when they finished their duet.

"It...it's just been so hard. I had no one to turn to for the longest time...I was all alone. Your not gonna let me go home now are you? Please Big Mac I'm begging you please don't send me home." Jane pleaded. Big Mac used a hoof to make Jane look at him.

"Ah think yer already home. Ah promise ah won't let ya go back to earth." He gives her a reassuring smile. She smiles as well.

"Thank you..."

"No thankin needed."

After a few more minutes Jane finally let go and Big Mac went up to work. She sang, she was singing almost any song that came to mind about the current subject. She found that singing about these kinds of things helped her cope, so that's what she did.

Later that day it was just after dinner. Big Mac was on his way to bring Jane her supper when AJ stopped him, she never tried to do so before, so obviously he was surprised. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Can ah come with ya to talk to Jane?" Applejack asks.

He was even more surprised, not only did she want to talk to her, she called Jane by her name. AJ would only address Jane as "it" or something else of that nature before this point. Regardless of that though, Big Mac nodded and let her accompany him to the cellar.

Jane was surprised to see Applejack down there, that was the third time AJ had ever been down in the cellar since Jane had arrived. Jane was even more surprised when she heard what AJ had to say.

"Ah'm sorry." AJ said in a gentle voice.

"What do you mean?" Jane asks.

"We know what it's like ta loose your parents at a young age, and Ah know how devastated ya felt. Cause Ah felt the same way. Only difference is, we were much younger than you and we didn't have to deal with what you did afterwards."

"Eeyup."

"Really?" Jane asked surprised.

"Really." Applejack responded, she went and sat down next to Jane.

"When our parents died...Ah felt like I'd never be able ta move past it. Ah'd never be able to pull through and live life again. Ah was inconsolable yet Mac and Granny tried their best to do it. You...you didn't have that at all. Ah know what it's like ta loose mah parents but not get hurt by those who are supposed ta help ya, ah can't even imagine how ya could've put up with it all that time. Ah can't believe that this is better than the life ya had."

"I guess I'm just lucky that way..."

AJ couldn't really tell wether or not Jane was being sarcastic.

"Ah shoulda told ya why Ah brought ya down here a while ago. Well, better late than never right?"

"I-I guess." Jane said, still quite surprised by what was happening.

"It was the middle of the night, Ah was bout three years old and Mac was bout seven. In human terms at least. Our parents were still alive, everythin was fine...Until pa smelled smoke. He looked outside and all the sudden started scramblin round the house lookin fer the rest of us. Ah was in mah room when Ah saw the fire. It was climbin up the wall...before Ah knew it Ah was on pa's back hangin on fer dear life, Ah saw these shadows, they weren't ponies. They were too tall. They didn't walk on four legs. They were your kind. All Ah could really remember was the fire, it was everywhere. When it subsided all that was left was ash...a big pile o' ash. They cut all our trees down, burned everythin to the ground, there was nothin left. They'd gone without a trace, the next mornin everypony saw what had happened and wrote it off as some kinda freak, tragic accident. Nopony woulda believed us if we told em the truth anyways. We struggled fer several months after that...it was awful, but our family pulled through. Like Ah said before Ah was to young to remember much at the time but one day when Ah was about seven. Ah over heard Mac and Granny talking bout it. Granny didn't wanna talk bout it with me around, but Ah managed to coax Big Mac into tellin me. He described everythin to me, how the humans were there and how they caused it. It turned out that he was old enough to remember the humans, unlike me...Ah was so mad after that, Ah developed a very passionate hate for them after that. Ah never forgot, never forgave. Ah didn't think Ah could. But, then you stumbled in."

Applejack looks at Jane with a smile on her face. Jane's eyes grow.

"M-me?"

AJ chuckles at her, not mockingly. She just thought it was funny how Jane was reacting.

"Yup, if it wasn't fer you ah don't think ah ever woulda gotten over the humans, true ah did hate ya too at first but, over the weeks Mac kept talkin bout you and after this mornin...it really opened mah eyes."

AJ stands up and takes of her hat.

"Please accept mah humblest of apologies. Can ya ever forgive me?"

Applejack was not expecting what happened next. Jane leapt up and hugged her, tightly.

"Yes, I forgive you. I know you have reasons for the way you acted. Given the fact that you went through all of that, I can understand how you were when we first met, I would've probably been the same way if I were you."

AJ smiled and hugged Jane back. "Thank ya, now let's see bout that leg."

AJ went over and started untying Jane's leg. Jane looked at Big Mac. Her expression one of pure euphoria, he was quite happy as well, he wasn't only happy for Jane but he was happy for his sister, she finally was willing to move on. That's something that Mac had given up hope on a long time ago. Yet now it was finally happening. AJ finished untying Jane and they went up to the surface, luckily it was nighttime so it wouldn't be too hard on Jane's eyes at first. They quickly sneaked her into barn, both Granny Smith and AppleBloom were still in the living room. The second they entered the room Granny's eyes widened and she rubbed her eyes just to make sure she wasn't seeing things. AppleBloom did the same.

"What the hay? Am Ah dreamin'?" Granny asked. Big Mac shook his head.

"Nope."

"Please don't freak out, I'm not here to hurt you I promise." Jane said.

"Well Ah never said that, Ah'm just amazed to see another one of ya."

Granny Smith walked over to Jane, narrowing her eyes.

"Your filthy, we need to get you cleaned up missy! Only thing is we don't have any clothes that would fit ya, and Ah ain't a seamstress."

Jane smiled in both relief and comical enjoyment. They sat there for a couple minutes, it was actually pretty dark, the Apple family always tended to have late dinners. Despite being early risers, they just didn't need a lot of sleep in order to function.

AJ got an idea. "But ah know who is, Ah'll be right back. Jane, mind comin with me? We're gonna need to take some measurements."

Jane in puzzled but follows AJ. Everyone in Ponyville was asleep at the time. They were heavy sleepers so that helped things out.

"We're going to see Rarity aren't we?" Jane asked.

"Yeah...how'd ya know that? How do you know about us anyways? You seemed to have known about me when we first met."

"Heh...well back on earth we have this thing called a television, it's kinda like a magic box with pictures and sounds that we humans use for entertainment. There are these things called shows, in a way they're kinda like chapter books, a season is like a volume and each episode is a chapter. There is this show in my world based off of your world, it has the same characters and everything. I only watched the first two episodes though so I didn't get far. I have to say though, out of all of your friends. You stood out to me the most. You were so warm and inviting when Twilight first came to Ponyville, you work hard without complaining and really care about your family. That's one of the things that I really like about you. Your always willing to put family first, you protect your friends no matter what, sadly a lot of people in my world don't like you as much as the rest of your friends. But I just think it's because your independent and strong compared to your friends. The way I see it, your strong, hardworking, positive, smart despite your southern stereotype, and for me just plain awesome."

"Well golly, thanks fer thinkin that sugarcube. Ah don't need to be accepted over in your world though, ah'll just keep bein me. No one can change that."

"That's good, and your welcome."

By then the pair were at the door to carousel boutique, AJ knocked on the door and a light flickered on the upper floor, there was clattering for about a minute when finally rarity opened the door dressed in a robe, she yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Who in their right mind would come to my shop in the middle of the night? Come back tomorrow and we can think of something." Rarity said sleepily.

When Rarity registered Applejack standing in the doorway she sorta perked up.

"Applejack what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

"Uh hey rarity, Ah have a special request for ya."

"What is it? Are you finally going to upgrade your wardrobe?"

"Heh, nice try Rares, but ah ain't the one needin the clothes. Have ya ever tried designin clothes fer homosapiens?"

Yes, Applejack can be articulate too! Granted Jane just told her what she was and she didn't know what exactly the word meant but still.

"Homosa what?"

Rarity was confused until she registered Jane next to AJ she double checks her vision to see that she isn't hallucinating. At first she seemed confused but quickly composed herself.

"I've never attempted such a thing but I am open to trying. You go ahead and get yourself cleaned up darling, Applejack and I will start discussing design ideas. The shower is the third door down the left hallway on the right wall."

"Uh great thanks. I'll be upstairs."

Jane left and the two mares were alone.

"Your awfully composed bout this. Ya ain't freaked out at all?"

"Well I'm pretty sure I'm dreaming right now but even if I wasn't I'd help somepony if they ask for it and given the fact that you asked I can't really say no."

"Heh fair enough...listen rarity, bout the outfit, don't make it too...uh...froufrou. Make sure she gets a decent pair o' boots too, she can't necessarily walk round bare hoofed or foot in her case. It gotta be functional too, no unnecessary details."

"Ugh, fine. Although I will do a bit of experimentation...since when do you care about fashion?"

"As long as it ain't froufrou Ah'm fine with it. Ah don't care about fashion, Ah just care bout her and Ah don't want her to be overwhelmed and end up with somethin that'll interfere with things over at the farm."

It had been such a long since Jane had a hot shower. She made sure to savor the time spent in there but didn't spend to much time in there. After about twenty minutes Jane came out in a bathrobe, hair clean, body seemingly clean. Overall she did what she had to. Rarity had then taken all the measurements she needed, she whipped up a shirt and pair of pants for her along with underwear within an hour. They tried their best to keep things from getting awkward and for the most part succeeded. However Rarity wasn't exactly used to making undergarments so there was that. Rarity did keep her word on not making things too girly, however she did add details to the fabric she used to make the clothes. She used denim for a pair of jeans with embroidered details at the edges, red and orange flannel for a shirt and a pair of embossed leather cowboy boots. She also added a vest with a few embellishments which Jane took quite a liking to, AJ actually found it nice as well. For waking up in the middle of the night and having to design a whole ensemble for a different species Rarity didn't do half bad.

Jane was so happy, she just got her first set of clean clothes and first shower in about a month. Not only were the clothes good in looks, they were very comfortable. She almost thought it wasn't happening, it was all so surreal, she was so happy, she had a smile on her face the entire time. After AJ paid Rarity for the outfit they left.

"Ya like it?" AJ asked as they walked. Jane nodded gleefully which made AJ chuckle.

"Well Ah'm glad, let's head on home and get some rest, tomorrow your gonna see what life is really like fer us in equestria, just stay outta sight of other ponies okay? Stayin on the farm will be your best option. You can sleep in the guest bedroom if you'd like."

"I'd love to, thank you so much Ms. Jack."

"No need to call me that anymore sugarcube. AJ and Applejack are fine." She says with a smile, Jane smiles back.

"Okay."

The pair eventually made their way back to the farm and went to bed. The next morning Jane woke up to a delicious smell, she followed her nose to the kitchen where everyone else was sitting at a table there was an empty chair there waiting for her.

"Mornin miss!" Applebloom said trotting over to her. Jane smiled, it had been a long time since she had been told that and she had never been called miss before.

"Good morning AppleBloom." Jane said with a smile.

"You know mah name?"

"Yup, your brother told me. You can call me Jane."

"Oh alrighty then. Nice to meet ya Jane!"

"So what's cookin?" Jane asks making her way to the table. Granny Smith looked over her shoulder as she continued cooking.

"Scrambled eggs and apple fritters, nothin fancy." Granny Smith served Jane a healthy amount and placed it on the table infront of her. Just looking at it made Jane's mouth water. She immediately delved in and polished the plate within five minutes, the Apple's mouths were hanging wide open when they saw how quickly Jane ate.

"Do ya have a bottomless pit for a stomach?!" AppleBloom asked. Jane chuckled.

"I guess." She replied.

The rest of them finished off their food when AJ spoke.

"Big Mac said that apparently you like to sing."

"He did, did he?" Jane looked at Big Mac with playfully narrowed eyes. He just smiled.

"Yeah I sing. Why do you ask?"

"Well, Ah was wonderin' if you'd let us hear it. Ah've been curious ever since Mac told me and Ah'm sure the others are up for some entertainment." Applejack adds.

"Sure why not?" Jane got herself into rhythm by tapping the table.

When she got into the rhythm she began singing, it turned out that the Apples knew that song as well. Granny Smith provided percussion, Big Mac provided the bass and AppleBloom and Applejack were providing backing vocals. As strange as it was, she just deduced that ponies have similar song writer as people, maybe parallel versions? Jane honestly didn't care, she was just over joyed at the fact that she was actually sharing with others doing something she loved. She hasn't been able to do that for a while. When they had finished everyone was smiling.

"Where'd you get a voice like that? Some kinda medimagic?" Granny asked, Jane laughed and shook her head.

"Nope, this is just my natural voice."

"Well you were certainly gifted with a good one." AJ added. Jane smiled even bigger.

"How would ya like to meet the rest of mah friends? They won't tell anypony, their good at keepin secrets between us." AJ said. Jane pondered it for a moment and nodded.

"Why not? You sure they won't freak out?" Jane asked. AJ nods.

"Ah'm sure."

Earlier that week AJ had made plans for her and her friends to meet at Sweet Apple Acres so that would help things out. Within the next few hours Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and her new coltfriend Red Stripes and AJ were in the barn, AJ told Jane to remain hidden until told to come out, AJ didn't want to freak her friends out to badly.

"It's nice to see you Applejack, thanks for inviting us to your farm." Twilight said with a smile.

"Oh no problem Twi, glad ya'll accepted the invitation. Ah have someone I'd like ya to meet." AJ said with a smile. The rest of her friends looked puzzled.

"Come on out Jane." AJ called, Jane took that as her que and stepped where she could be seen. She immediately got looks.

"I've never seen anything like it. Who are you?" Twilight asked Jane.

"My name is Jane, I'm a human." She replied.

After several minutes of questions and explanations they had resolved that Jane's existence would be between them and the rest of the Apple family only. After that AJ and the rest of her friends started talking amongst themselves and Red was just observing quietly, he walked over to Jane.

"Hi" he told her. Jane took notice of his presence and responded.

"Hey-" As Jane got a closer look at Red she found that the stripes he had were actually a very bright red. "Cool stripes, you dye them or something?" Jane asked intrigued.

"Nope, they're natural, I earned them after a war I fought in."

"A war?"

"Yeah."

"Care to indulge me in a story?"

Red chuckled. "Sure."

The entire time they were there Red and Jane talked, the two became fast friends since they both had troubled pasts and weren't Equestria's definition of normal. After a while everyone left and the Apples started their chores.

"Anything I can do to help?" Jane asked.

"Well, ya can help granny out in the kitchen if you'd like, all the other chores are kinda for horses." AJ said, Jane nods.

"Fair enough."

Over the next 3 months or so Jane got used to life over there. It was amazing, she was able to do things she never would have been able to back on earth. She felt like she had belonged there even though she wasn't really their kind. She and Red had made it a point to just talk every night, they had gotten really close really fast. It was like they were brother and sister, it was usually after dinner when they had their evening chats. The others knew about it and they didn't mind, they thought it was good for the two of them. She also got a lot closer to the other apples, particularly AJ. Jane wondered how her earth siblings were doing, they were probably trying to figure out how to clean the house themselves or in the streets by now. Did they even know she was gone? Yeah, they probably did. They didn't like her so there was no reason for them to come looking for her. Unless of course, they needed their slave back. But she wasn't their slave anymore, she was free. She was free from the abuse and was with others that actually cared about her. She wouldn't trade that for anything and there was no way that she would ever go back to the way things were.

One night after dinner Jane was making her way to the spot she usually met Red, everything was normal. When she reached the clearing nothing seemed to be wrong. She waited there for a few minutes until she heard rustling behind her, She figured it was just Red so she turned to meet him. What she saw shocked her, it was Luke. Luke and a few other men were surrounding her.

"Hey J." Luke said.

"Don't call me that..."

"I'll call you what ever I wanna call you you little dog."

Jane backed up as Luke got closer to her.

"How did you even get here?" Jane asked him.

"Same way you did." He replied, Jane was confused.

"Oh come on, do you really think that you just happened to wake up here magically teleported to some crazy world with talking mules did you?"

"They're not mules, they're ponies and I know a few that can kick your butt no problem." She said quietly, Luke raised a fist but then stopped himself, he'd never done that before.

"Normally, you'd be on the ground and I'd be beating the crap outta right now, but I'm in a good mood so I'm gonna let it slide. Besides, that means I'll be able to really unload on you when we get home on Sunday."

"What do you mean?"

"You see J, the boss and I have been talking and we decided that we're gonna set up shop at this little farm of yours."

"..."

Another man stepped up.

"Your brother is right, the only reason your here is to help bring their guard down, see that we are decent enough to negotiate, however that negotiating part will be weather or not they wanna die by gun point of something else. Cause we're taking the farm either way."

Jane was scared, she tried to figure out what was happening but just couldn't, this didn't make any sense.

"Why...why do you need the farm? Why would you need me? How do you even know I still exist?"

"So many questions, we need the farm because since we work for a company that sells Apple products and the apples grow much faster here as opposed to earth we'ed be able to to double our income. Like I said earlier, we needed you to help bring their guard down because we're just sick like that. You played your part absolutely perfectly if I might add. Here's the crazy part, are you ready for this?"

"..."

The other man gets close to Jane.

"It's only been four days on earth."

"That doesn't matter to me. I've been here four months and I'm gonna stay here. No way in a million years am I going back with any of you." Jane said trying to be brave. Her brother walked next to the other man.

"Wait, Celestia will banish you within a week then no one will be happy. Have you even thought of that?"

"Eh, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"But how exactly do you plan on getting you hands on the farm? I can tell you right now that they won't just hand it over."

"Easy, we just kill them. We've found that this society is a lot like ours, so if we kill the owners it free game."

Jane's eyes grew, they can't be serious. This has to be a dream.

"We'll be back in three days our time, we've still gotta prep for the move. But if you tell any of your little friends about this...well, we're just gonna have to move in early. See you soon."

The men departed, leaving Jane standing there eyes wide in shock. There was more rustling but Jane wasn't paying attention, Red came through the brush.

"Hey sorry I'm late I had to-" Red knew something was wrong right away. "Hey, you okay?" Red went over to Jane to try and see what was wrong. Jane merely shook her head.

"They're...they're coming...gonna kill them...take the farm...can't go back...don't wanna go back.."

"Whoa, Jane calm down and tell me what happened."

"I can't...they'll come early."

"Who will come?"

"I can't don't you understand that?! If I tell you they'll find out and then they'll kill them early. I can't let that happen but there's nothing I can do..."

"Jane...you and I both know I wouldn't let that happen. We wouldn't let that happen, you know you can tell me anything."

Jane looked around and didn't see anyone, at least she didn't. She took a deep breath and explained Red listening carefully to every word.

"This is bad, come on we gotta go now." Red allowed Jane to hop on his back but turned around to suddenly get a face full of gas. He fell to the ground.

"Red! What did you do to him?!"

"Tsk tsk, we told you not to tell anyone but did you listen? No. Expect yourself back home by tomorrow morning." Luke gassed Jane and she fell.

He was out for a few hours, Red got up and shook it off, he looked to see Jane still asleep. He had to get her back to the barn. Had to warn them. He carefully positioned her on his back and started galloping to the house.

It was the middle of the night, Big Mac had heard banging on the door. He didn't want his siblings to have to get up because they needed their rest. Although Mac was a light sleeper, his family was quite the opposite, when they fall asleep it's nearly impossible to force them to wake up. Unless the princesses ordered them to wake up for the fate of equestria they'd wake up on their own terms. Okay, so maybe not that deep of sleepers but the point is they are very, very deep sleepers despite going to bed let and waking up early. He went and opened the door to see an unconscious Jane on a panting Red's back. Mac suddenly looked very confused, worried and alarmed.

"Listen...to me...gotta...explain things..." Red said in between pants.

Big Mac stepped aside and allowed Red to enter. He laid Jane on the couch and turned to Big Mac who had an expression of many emotions. He explained everything, Mac nodding all the while.

"You understand?" Red asked.

"Eeyup."

"Jane said that if she told anyone they'd kill you early, but she didn't know just how early. I'd suggest you watch your back okay?"

"Eeyup."

"I'll do what I can to make sure you guys stay safe, but I can't make any promises. Let me know when she wakes up okay?"

"Eeyup."

"Good. Hope you have a goodnight."

Red left and Mac looked at Jane. He was mad. Very mad. How could anyone do this to someone like her? But then again Red did mention that it was her brother that did it so it couldn't have been that big a shock. He carefully put Jane on his back and closed the door. After that he made his way upstairs to his room. He wanted to make sure that he was there when Jane had woken up. He set her on the bed and climbed in himself falling asleep once he got comfortable.

Luke was lying from the start, they were coming the next morning anyway. He just wanted to be the sick, twisted person he was. It was actually his boss's idea which he took quite a liking to. Early that morning there were about one hundred and fifty men making their way into Sweet Apple Acres.

It was early in the morning, the Apples were awake and getting a head start on the day when all the sudden there was noise, and lots of it. AJ went to the nearest window and looked out, she stood there for a few seconds eyes wide and then she staggered backwards onto the floor. Big Mac helped her up and looked out the window himself. What he saw made him reel in horror. There had to have been over a hundred of them, humans. Not like Jane. They were the ones that he had seen before. The ones that burned the farm down all those years ago.

"Guys, what's goin on?" AppleBloom asked in a slightly shaking voice.

Big Mac didn't dare take his eyes off of the window. "Ah want yall to head to mah room, grab the twelve gauge, lock the door and don't come out till Ah come get ya."

"Not without me! Ah ain't defenseless like before, and Ah ain't about to let ya go out there alone." Applejack said trotting next to him. Big Macintosh knew better than to argue with his stubborn little sister.

"Fine..."

"What's happenin'? Are...are we gonna die?" AppleBloom asked.

The eldest siblings looked to their youngest, many emotions visible in their expressions. Mainly fear. AJ walked over to AppleBloom and hugged her.

"Ah don't know...but ah can promise ya one thing, we ain't gonna go down with a fight. Now, do what Big Mac says, he an' Ah will take care o' this okay?"

"O-okay..."

Granny and AppleBloom left and AJ turned to her brother.

"Ya know Ah love ya an' always will right?"

"Eeyup."

"You ready?"

Big Mac just walked over to the door and opened it, stepping outside to see the full extent of the problem, they surrounded the entire farm. AJ made her way next to him as a human stepped up and walked in front of them.

"Wow...long time no see huh?"

The Apple siblings just glared at him silently, having to tilt their heads upwards to meet the man's gaze.

"Listen, my associates and I want to get a hold of this lovely establishment you have here, so what's say we strike a deal? You give use your lives and we take your farm!"

"That don't sound like a good deal ta me." AJ said quietly

"Ah remember you, we ain't givin up our farm so y'all are just gonna have to try and take it." Big Mac said.

"Oh okay that can be arranged...You know, I have no idea why we didn't kill you sooner. Looks to me like your parents are dead so we won't have to worry about them will we?"

"You leave Ma and Pa outta this. Unless you wanna get an even bigger whoopin." AJ seethed

"Oh don't worry, soon enough all of you will be reunited with them. Is that great or what?!"

"..."

"Don't worry, look would you rather die at gunpoint or something else like hanging? I wanna make sure you go the way you want that way it's fair."

"How bout we stay, you go and never show your sorry plots here again?"

"Uh sorry, I'm afraid that's not gonna happen...but if that's how you wanna play it..." The man snapped his fingers and there were gun shots aimed at them. The guns had silencers on them as to not alert the ponies in the neighboring town. A smart move on the workers' part.

Big Mac and AJ dove behind old cider barrels for cover, they did get grazed in a few places but they both looked at each other with determined expressions. They waited, soon enough the firing stopped.

"Why did you stop?"

"We're out of ammo!"

"We can't be out of ammo it's not possible!"

The Apples nodded to each other and leapt out from behind the barrels. They fought and fought hard, they managed to take a good seventy five to eighty men down before they got overwhelmed. Mac got hit on the back of the head knocking him out and AJ just couldn't fight anymore, she tried her best to keep on fighting but her exhaustion just wouldn't let it happen. A worker came up behind her and stepped on her back holding her down, she was too tired to try and fight back. The boss walked up in front of her, gun in his hand. She knew that she was gonna die. She looked at Big Mac with a mournful expression, being knocked out he was not able to see. She was kind of glad for it...she didn't want him to see her like this.

Jane woke up with a start, she began darting her head around the room to see AppleBloom and Granny Smith in there with her. She went to the window and saw something horrific. Luke was standing on AJ's back and a man was bringing a gun up to her head. She quickly looked around and saw Big Mac unconscious, she reeled back when saw Granny holding a shotgun.

"Is that loaded?!" Jane asked frantically.

"Ah think so."

Jane didn't waste any time, she snatched the gun, aimed and shot.

AJ just had her eyes closed, she was ready to go even though she really didn't want to. There was a bang, it echoed across the orchard. AJ opened her eyes, nothing hit her. She looked up to see the man holding the gun with a huge cavity in the right side of his face, he fell to the ground. Within a minute there was another bang, a man in front of the door fell and it slowly creaked open, Jane was standing there shaking with the shotgun ready to fire.

"STEP...AWAY...FROM THE MARE!" She shouted menacingly. Several of the workers backed up and Luke stepped off of AJ and made his way into the crowd of workers. Jane still aimed the shotgun at them but walked over to AJ and bent down beside her.

"You okay?"

"Thanks to you..."

"Come on." Jane helped Applejack back onto her hooves. She looked back to the crowd of workers.

"I'd suggest that you guys make your way out of here within the next ten seconds. I'm gonna close my eyes and when I open them I want you gone. Unlike you cowards I won't hesitate to kill people like you."

"Neither will Ah." AJ said standing tall.

Big Mac started waking up when he saw Jane and AJ standing up...Jane with a shotgun in her hand. He moaned in pain which made the two of him look in his direction.

"Big Mac!" The two hurried up to help Big Mac to his hooves as well.

"You okay?" Jane asked.

"Eeyup."

None of the workers had moved.

"So your still here huh? Did you not see what I am guessing these two did to seemingly half of your men? Did you see what I did? Do you really want that to happen to the rest of you? If not I suggest you get the heck off of our property!"

All of the workers ran as quickly as they could, well...all accept one. Luke was still there. Jane pointed the gun at him.

"I said to get off of our property."

"Put the gun down J."

"Why?! So you can hit me again? Well I've got news for you, not gonna happen."

"J please, I'm not gonna hit you I promise."

Extremely reluctant, Jane set the gun in the ground.

"Listen J, I'm sorry for the way I've treated you these past months."

"No your not, if you were sorry and truly wanted to stop this you would've done that a long, long time ago!"

"J, I mean it. I really am sorry. Please forgive me?" Luke had pleading eyes.

Jane had never seen him act this way, it seemed pretty real. She was determined to show Luke that she was a better person than him.

"What you did to me was unforgivable, what you did was inconceivable to many. I won't forgive you and probably never will, but I will make a deal with you. You get away from here and never come back and I won't blow a hole in your head."

"J come on, you can't be serious."

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"..."

"Look Luke, I don't care what you do, I don't care what you say, I don't care what you think. I am never going back with you. Not after finding what I did here."

"But we can come back and visit whenever you like, you can stay weeks at a time here if you wanted. Sarah and I need you back home."

"Yeah, to be your slave. That is not gonna happen, ever again."

"I'm running out of patience with you Jane, I'll drag you back by your shirt if I have to."

"And I'll blow off your hand if I have to."

"You ain't gonna touch her. Big Mac and Ah won't let that happen."

AJ said standing next to Jane, Mac made his way to the other side of Jane and nodded.

"Eeyup."

"Okay...okay fine I'll go."

"Hang on a second, I have something I've been wanting to say to you and I want you to put the song on for Sarah when you get home alright?"

"Wha...?"

Jane and the apple siblings huddled into a group, Luke saw that a few of them had smiles growing on their faces. The group pulled apart and Big Mac cleared his throat. He started singing much to Luke's surprise. Soon enough Jane and AJ joined in, Jane was the lead singer while AJ was the back up vocals, at least thats how it seemed, they were singing one of Jane's favorite songs. Because of you by Kelly Clarkson, at least that's who wrote it on earth. When they finished their little number Luke was just standing there not knowing what to say.

"But...Jane, Sarah's your sister. That makes me your older brother, that mean you have to do what I say." Luke said.

"I've gone through hell because of you and Sarah, living in a dirty, damp cellar with no food or water for the first week was better than living with you. The first week was rough, but then Big Mac found me. Do you wanna know what a big brother is supposed to be like? This young stallion right here." Jane gestured to Big Mac who turned to her surprised.

"Ya really consider me a brother?" He asked quietly. Jane had never said that before. Up till now they were just considered really good friends. Jane hugged him tightly.

"Of course I do, you, AJ, AppleBloom and Granny have been more like a family to me than anyone ever has after I lost my parents, you and AJ are my real older siblings, don't ever forget that okay?"

Big Mac nuzzled Jane in thanks and nodded. "Eeyup."

"These ponies have been more humane to me than any human ever has, they are my real family, it doesn't matter if we're different species. We just love each other unconditionally and would put our lives on the line to protect each other. Like you've seen here today. You've treated me nothing like you were supposed to, you definitely weren't treating me in a humane way, so what does that make you?"

"..."

"I should actually thank you for this, if it weren't for you I wouldn't be here, I never would've met them. So instead of inflicting all the pain that I feel you deserve on you, we're gonna let you walk away from here untouched, tell Sarah that I jumped out the window and you dumped my body in the river or something. Just so that she knows I'm gone alright?"

Luke nodded his head and turned to around to leave, once he got to what she felt was a safe distance Jane turned her back to him and faced her, what she felt; her real brother and sister.

"We did it!" She exclaimed in triumph, the pair smiled at her. It was unknown to them that the entire population of ponyville was actually surrounding the farm witnessing what was happening, AJ soon found out and somewhat panicked. Jane turned to the crowd, they were silent, waiting for what would happen next.

"Um hi everyone, my name is Jane. Your not gonna take me to some lab or something are you? If your curious about me and my kind just ask I won't bite." She says to the crowd Jane wasn't afraid anymore, after everything she's been through she not gonna run and hide because a few ponies had seen her. The crowd remained silent. All of the sudden there was a spurt of blood from Jane's midsection. The crowd gasped and Jane fell to the ground.

Mac's eyes grew in shock, he started breathing hard and heavy. He caught the sight of Luke holding a gun, he just...he couldn't control himself anymore. True Big Mac was a gentle giant, he would never hurt anyone unless it were a last resort, but this...this monster did this to their little sister. It was a big brother's job to protect his siblings, he had failed at that task, he just couldn't bare it...the combination of all these emotions, all these thoughts. He just couldn't take it, he snapped. Luke started running but it was completely useless, although Big Macintosh was quite bulky he could run as quick as an Equestria Games marathon runner if the situation called for it. After all, strong legs also equal fast ones. Within seconds Big Mac was on top of Luke, his eyes seemingly red with rage and steam coming from his nostrils. He went from the nice guy to terrifying monster within just a few seconds. Big Mac leaned in close to Luke, Luke could feel the hot breath on his face.

"She gave ya a chance ta live the rest o' yer pitiful life...You...you...ah can't even find words to describe ya, Ah don't tend to talk unless I'm emotional and right now Ah am very, very, emotional. She let ya live and you killed her in return. What kinda sick twisted person would do that? How could ya do all those things ta her? What did she do to deserve what she went through?"

Big Mac was talking barely above a whisper but the anger in his tone was clearly visible and even more powerful than any yelling could have accomplished. Luke was just paralyzed, he didn't know what to do or say. Mac actually chuckled a little.

"Oh Ah see how it is, your so twisted ya just do it fer fun don't ya? You and yer little girl friend? Ya just abuse her fer fun?!"

"..."

"She may have shown ya mercy...but don't expect absolutely any form me."

Without another word Big Mac slowly started pressing down on Luke's leg until he heard a satisfying snap. AJ came up and looked at Luke as well. She leaned in.

"We're gonna make sure ya pay for every time ya beat her and then some."

AJ in turn then broke Luke's other leg, before the torture could continue however, they were stopped, they looked up to see Red, he seemed to have had a few tears in his eyes.

"She was my friend too you know...Let me take care of this...I don't even know what to call him, I know exactly how to make him pay for everything he did..." Red said with a wicked grin.

"What are ya gonna do?" AJ asked. Red smiled even bigger.

"You don't wanna know..."

The Apple siblings stepped away from Luke and Red grabbed him by the arm with his teeth and started dragging him along, Luke too shocked with pain to say anything. With him gone they quickly made their way back to Jane, AJ had tied off Jane's wound to try and stop the bleeding, they weren't going to deny the situation, no matter how badly they wanted to. At least Big Mac wasn't going to deny it, AJ however...There was no way they'ed be able to make it to the hospital in time, even if they did it would've taken them a few minutes to get her the care she needed, by then it would be too late. They just sat on either side of her, their heads hanging low, tears dripping from their eyes.

"H-hey...no tears okay?" Jane said weakly.

"How can we not be cryin at a time like this? It's our fault-" Jane reached a weak hand out and touched AJ's leg before she could finish her sentence interrupting her.

"No...not your fault...don't...don't ever think this was your fault."

"How couldn't it be? Ah shoulda been watchin him, if Ah had done what Ah was supposed to-" Jane interrupted Big Macintosh as well.

"You...have done much, much more...than what was needed of you Big Mac...you and the rest of your family, have been the absolute best thing to ever happen to me. I don't want you to remember this...Remember the good times okay?"

"No, ya ain't gonna die okay. We just gotta get ya some help that's all." AJ told her. Jane had only chuckled.

"I thought you were the element of honesty AJ..."

Applejack could do nothing but look at her dying friend. Jane continued to speak.

"He punctured my jugular vein, nothing can stop a bleed out like this...I learned that in anatomy...that...that bastard couldn't even kill me on earth for fear of paying the piper..."

Mac and AJ were trying to choke back the sound of their crying, but the tears were flowing freely. They didn't want her to see them like this...they had to stay strong for her. Jane made both of them look at her.

"Don't...ever forget the good times okay? Think of this as me being able to see my mom and dad again...but...I'll still miss you guys too...I'm so sorry for putting you through this, you don't deserve this kind of suffering...yet what am I causing you to go through it right now-" Jane too was crying at this point. Applejack put a hoof over Jane's mouth gently.

"You hush up...this ain't your fault. If we should blame anyone, it's that sorry excuse of a man's fault...that's what ya call a human stallion right? A man?"

"Y-yeah...that's what we call them. Listen...I am so, so sorry for putting you through this again but just...just promise me that you'll continue with your lives okay? Continue to be happy, remember the good times and let those keep you going...AppleBloom and granny still need you...your the rock of this family Big Mac...you need to stay that way...and your friends and Equestria still need you AJ...please...promise me you won't let this weigh on you. I don't want you blaming yourself for something you had no control over...my mother always told me that everything happens for a reason, even if we can't figure it out right away. I'm sorry, please forgive me and go on with your lives okay?" Jane them coughed violently, blood coming up as she did. The others shook in fear and disgust, eyes widening at the sight. Macintosh grabbed Jane's hand.

"Don't leave us...please don't leave us." Mac sobbed quietly.

"Some things we just can't change no matter how badly we want to..." Jane looked at her siblings, both of them purely heartbroken "I...I love you..." She mustered quietly, with that she drew her last breath and was gone.

Those words. Those three little words, she has never said them out loud until this point. It was both the worst and quite possibly the best thing they have ever heard. Mac and AJ could only quietly mouth the phrase "I love you too." Silence, silence reined in that point in time, the only things that could be heard were the sniffles of ponies, many of the ponies had tears in their eyes, they didn't need to know Jane to feel sorry for her or her family. They weren't holding back any more, Mac and AJ started to cry full force, not caring about all the ponies watching them. It was so unusual for the citizens of ponyville, they had never, ever seen the apple family in such a state. The Apples were well known throughout ponyville as an amazing family with a great business, Ponyville always saw them as strong ponies that could take anything life could throw at them. Seeing them in this state, seeing the stoic Big Macintosh and stubborn Applejack crying without holding back, it was just mind boggling. The rest of the mane six went over and tried to comfort their heartbroken friends.

"I'm really, really sorry guys...if I could do something I would." Twilight said mournfully.

"This...was none of yer concern to begin with twi...no need ta be sorry ya didn't know anyways." AJ said still crying.

There was a huge gust of wind and a great bunch of dark storm clouds in the sky but Big Macintosh and Applejack were paying no mind to it. The clouds parted to reveal Princess Luna. Everyone bowed before the princess as she made her way toward the group surrounding the human. The rest of the mane six took notice and bowed.

"You care for this human, yes?" Luna asked.

The Apples shot their heads straight up and saw the princess, they fumbled around for a few seconds but eventually bowed as well.

"W-we're mighty sorry princess, we...we didn't notice ya stop by..." Applejack said apologetically. Luna ordered the pair to rise.

"No need to apologize, it must be extremely difficult to pay attention to other things when you have lost someone close to you." Luna said.

The princess surveyed the scene and saw the dead human, she looked her over for a few seconds and nodded.

Jane didn't know where she was at first it all seemed like a dream, she saw her parents in the distance. Without even thinking she ran up and embraced them.

"You have been so brave sweetie." Her mother said as she hugged her back.

"I'm amazed that you put up with those jerks all this time, how come you didn't leave?" Her dad added.

"I had to keep my promise, I couldn't disappoint you guys." Jane said.

"Honey, the promise was never made in the first place. Sarah never said her part. We gave her more than enough time to do so before we left."

"B-but..."

"Promise you won't put yourself through that anymore. Stay with your new family, stay with the apples. From the looks of things they took better care of you than we did."

"Okay I promise. I won't forget about you though."

"You better not! Otherwise we'll come back and haunt you to make sure you remember!" Her dad said playfully.

"Wait...why are you telling me these things? I'm staying here aren't I?"

"Not exactly sweetheart, but know that we're gonna be waiting when you come back okay, it was absolutely great to be able to talk to you one more time. Love you...no matter what happens, don't ever forget that." Her mom said.

"Love you too." Jane said.

"You...wish to have her back?" Luna asked the pair.

Their eyes widened and they looked at each other. AJ turned to the princess

"Y-you can do that?!" AJ exclaimed.

"I am the princess of the night, death is often associated with dark and of course the night is generally dark. I could, pull a few strings as it were, but she won't ever be the same."

"Whaddaya mean by that?" Big Mac asks cautiously.

"She won't be human anymore. Will that be troublesome to you?"

"If it means we get her back Ah'm sure we'll manage." AJ said. Luna nodded

"Very well. Besides, she was ment to continue so I'm sure I'll be able to reason with my sister, we've known about her existence her for a while after all."

"Ya have?"

"Yes...we are what they call "all knowing" or something along those terms. The reason we didn't send her back where she came from was because we knew she was in good hooves and she wouldn't try anything funny."

Luna closed her eyes for a few seconds, when she opened them they were glowing white. Her horn started to as well, she touched her horn to Jane's forehead, there's a blinding flash of light. When everyone recovered they saw an earth pony lying where Jane was, she had a dark brown mane, scarlet coat and freckles, along with a green apple in the shape of an eighth note as a cutie mark. She stirred and started to wake up.

"Wha..." Jane stood on her hooves and looked around. Everyone was still there.

"Guys...what happened? I feel weird." She said.

When she caught sight of princess luna she bent down to find that she had hooves. She staggered back trying to come to grips with what was happening.

"Hang on...I'm a pony now? But how in the hay did that happen?! Wait...it was you wasn't it your majesty?" Jane asked Luna. Luna nodded in confirmation.

"Wow...I guess that is what my parents meant huh? We'll hey now I can help out with the chores a lot more so it won't be all on you guys anymore!" Jane said with a cheery smile.

AJ just walked up to her, she hugged her tightly. Jane returning the action, not long after Big Mac joined in on the hug. Big Mac's hug was just barely suffocating them but they didn't care. Jane was back and she was there to stay. Just then there was a huge puff of smoke visible in the distance it looked like it came from the Everfree forest, Then not even five minutes later the howls of many timber wolves were heard. Big Mac closed his eyes grinning as he nodded to himself.

"That Red can go from not so much of an angel to devil pretty quick." He thought.

The towns ponies rejoiced, Mayor Mare stepped out of the crowd and walked up to Jane.

"Um excuse me miss but I believe you haven't been registered as a town citizen yet, what's your name?"

"Should I keep my human one?" Jane asks her friends.

"You can do whatever ya want, just remember there are always nicknames." AJ told her. Jane nodded and pondered for a moment.

"Hmm that's a tough one..."

"How about Aceymac Melody? I've seen apples like that growing on your farm and I think it would suit her perfectly." Red interjected as he walked up.

"Aceymac Melody huh...? I like it, great suggestion Red. But uh what happened over into Everfree forest, do you know?" Jane asked.

"You don't wanna know...trust me on that okay?"

"Hehe alright...Aceymac Melody it is then!"

Jane...oops...Aceymac then pulled Red in for a hug which he happily accepted. After that everyone cheered and Aceymac got registered as a town citizen. Everyone continued to live their life happily in equestria. How do I know all of this you might ask? Well my sister did say we were somewhat all knowing, I was actually watching them from the very beginning. I also got to meet Aceymac herself for the afterlife experience. But enough on that, it's time for me to raise the Sun.


End file.
